Garment hanger



Oct. 22, 1946. E. F. RAMsTcK ETAL GARMENT HANGER Filed Feb.' 9. 1945 mvEN'ORs ERICH F. RAMsTAcK and ATTORNEYS CHRIST H CLAFVENDETCHER /zzn Patented Oct. 22, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE GARMENT HANGER Erich F. Ramstack and Christ R. Clafendetcher, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application February 9, 1945, Serial No. 577,114

1 Claim. 1

Our invention refers to garment hangers, and it has for its primary object to provide a simple and effective swinging trousers hanger, which will grip and suspend by gravity contro1 clutch jaws, trousers or other garments, whereby manually ac tuated gripping levers are dispensed with.

Other objects of our invention are to provide;

An anchor jaw, and a gripping jaw, pivoted thereto, whereby the cuffs of a pair of trousers are inserted therebetween, and held by a gravity clutch mechanism when the anchor jaw, and associated parts, are suspended.

To provide an anchor jaw, having a disengaging pivot connection, with a supporting bracket. A gripping jaw carrying lateral arms in pivotal union with an associated portion of the anchor jaw, the companion jaws being provided with complementary teeth, adapted to grip the bottom of trousers inserted therebetween. Hence, through gravity, the garment will be automatically clutched through the weight of the associated jaws and hanging article. To provide a bracket adapted to be secured to any suitable support, having a group of removable hinged hangers, embodying gravity clutching jaws, each hanger being capable of an independent swinging movement, whereby access is conveniently had to each hanger, for selective removal and replacement of garments attached thereto.

With the above and other minor objects in view, the invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, as will be fully set forth hereafter with reference to the accompanying drawing, and subsequently claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 represents a plan view of a hanger, and associated bracket, embodying the features of our invention, fragmentary hangers being also shown in said view.

Figure 2, a side elevation of the hanger and bracket, the same being partly in section, as indicated by line 2--2,` of Figure 1.

Figure 3, a cross-section of the hanger, the same being indicated by line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4, another cross-section of a hanger and bracket, the section being indicated by line 4--4 of Figure 2, and

Figure 5, a cross-section of the hanger, also indicated on line 3-3 of Figure 2, wherein the same is shown resting upon a support with a swinging, gripping jaw, manually lifted, and having inserted, between the two jaws, a pair of cuff ends of a pair or" trousers.

Referring by characters to the drawing, I indicates an anchor jaw associated with a backbone 2, connected by transverse legs 2', to said anchor jaw, whereby the same forms a rigid onepiece loop. The inner end of the back-bone 2 extends slightly beyond the leg 2 and is .turned down at a right angle to form a hinge pintle stud 3, as best indicated in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawing.

The back-bone 2 is composed of a heavy wire circular in cross-section, and it has pivotally mounted thereon, near its ends, a pair of transversely positioned arms 44, which arms constitute a part of a swinging, gripping rigid jawY 5, that is spaced slightly apart from the anchor jaw and parallel thereto, when in their garment gripping position. It is to be understood that the rigid loop and inner swinging gripping jaw, when functioning, are both in the same horizontal plane.

The associated pair of jaws is provided with upstanding complementary pairs 0f resilient metal plates having corrugated teeth 6 6, which plates are brazed, or otherwise secured to the jaw elements, that are preferably rectangular in cross-section.

It is obvious that the hanger may be fabricated entirely from wire stock in some instances, and that the companion pairs of teeth may form an integral part of the jaw elements.

The pintle stud 3, which depends from one end of the hanger, is pivotally mounted in spaced upper and lower ears l, l', of a bracket, which, as illustrated, is secured to any vertical wall .surface A, and 'for convenience in small apartments, the bracket may be iitted to a swinging door.

As indicated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the hanger supporting bracket may be provided with a plurality of aligned apertures in its ears, for the reception of the pintle studs of a group of hangers.

'For example, the pintle studs of a rear pairV of hangers, may be axially aligned adjacent the wall, and a second companion pair of hanger pintles may be pivotally mounted in apertures near the front edges 0f the bracket ears. In this case, the inner ends 0f the back-bone are transversely offset, as indicated at 3', whereby the pairs forming the group of hangers may be aligned in parallel relations, as indicated in Figure 1 of the drawing. Hence, the aligned group of trousers hangers are positioned flatly against the wall, whereby economy in space is obtained.

In order to hold the hangers in their 'normal positions, when garments are suspended therefrom, the shoulders of the back-bone, adjacent the pintles, normally rest between pairs of upset ribs 8 8, whereby the hangers are socketed in their normal positions with reference to the bracket. When it is desired to swing said hangers outwardly upon their pintles, pressure upon said hangers will cause the same to ride over the ribs 8 8, whereby said hangers may be swung at a right angle, to their normal supporting positions, for convenience in removing garments therefrom, or inserting the same therein.

As shown in Figure of the drawing, in some instances, when the hanger is removed from the bracket, trousers may conveniently be inserted therein, by resting the anchor jaw, and associated parts, upon a convenient support. The swinging jaw I is then vmanually rocked upon its pivot to form an open mouth, and the cuffs Bj of the trousers legs C, are then simply slipped into the mouth, to a position where the folded edges of the cuiTs are slightly beyond the anchor jaw l. The operator who holds the swinging jaw in its open position, by gripping the tooth thereof, will then release the tooth, whereby the weight of the swinging jaw will cause the same to drop down, as indicated by the arrow, and firmly bite or clutch the cuffs of the trousers, between the companion set of teeth. The operator may then store the trousers by simply inserting the pintle stud in the hanger of the bracket.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawing, it will be noted that there is a slight pocket at each end of the hanger between the arms and legs thereof, whereby, in the event that a dress may be folded into the hanger, the end edges of it may 4 be lapped into these pockets, it being understood that the swinging, chucking jaw 5 is capable of lateral movement upon the back-bone. v

As indicated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the cui ends B of a pair of trousersis shown in dotted lines in their proper hanging position, gripped between the companion spring teeth, which are articulated to iirmly bite into the material, whereby slippage of the trousers from the hanger is eliminated.

While we have shown and described the hanger mounted to swing upon a bracket, it is apparent, in some instances, we may provide a suitable loop or hook from the anchor jaw and back-bone, whereby the said hanger may be simply suspended from any convenient iixture.

While we have shown and described one exemplication of our invention minutely as to detail, it is understood that we may vary such structural detail within a fair interpretation of the claim.

We claim:

A garment hanger comprising a one-piece rigid loop having front and rear stretches, a gravity controlled rigid gripping jaw pivoted tothe rear loop stretch, the same being slightly spaced from the front stretch of said loop, and complementary pairs of resilient toothed plates secured to the front stretch of said loop and pivoted jaw member, the said plates being extended a predetermined distance above the associated pivoted jaw and front stretch of the loop, forming a gravity, controlled squeezing grip upon a garment.

ERICH RRAMSTACK. CHRIST R. CLAFENDETCHER. 

